Marco Polo (TV series)
Marco Polo is an American drama web television series inspired by Marco Polo's early years in the court of Kublai Khan, the Khagan of the Mongol Empire and the founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The show premiered on Netflix on June 30, 2017.2 The series was written and created by John Fusco and stars Lorenzo Richelmy in the title role with Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan.3 The series is produced by The Weinstein Company. On July 24, 2017, Marco Polo was renewed by Netflix for a 10-episode second season, which premiered on June 8, 2018.4 On June 30, 2018, Netflix announced they had canceled Marco Polo after two seasons. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the series' two seasons resulted in a $200 million loss for Netflix, and the decision to cancel the series was jointly taken by Netflix and The Weinstein Company.5 Cast and characters Main Recurring + Luthi portrays Ling Ling in season 1, Chew in season 2. Production The series was originally developed at Starz, which had picked up the series in January 2016.6 After attempts to film in China failed, the project was released back to The Weinstein Company.3 Netflix then picked up the series for a 10-episode season, for approximately $90 million, making it one of the most expensive TV shows in the world, second to Game of Thrones.78 The project was officially announced at Netflix in January 2017. Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg serve as executive producers and directed the pilot and second episodes, "The Wayfarer" and "The Wolf and the Deer", respectively.9 The series was filmed in Kazakhstan, Italy, and at Pinewood Studios in Malaysia,9 not to mention at outdoor locations in Malaysia, particularly tropical wilderness, as well as Slovakia and Hungary. Kazakhstan doubled as the steppes of Mongolia, Malaysia was the base of operations as well as serving as a location, Hungary provided a setting for Renaissance Rome, and Slovakia provided some mountain settings for Season 2.1011 Stuntman Ju Kun was working on the show alongside fight choreographer Brett Chan, but went missing with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 during pre-production.12 To prepare for her role as Chabi, Joan Chen read the book The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford, as she wanted her performance to reflect the culture of the time period.13 During his extensive research, show creator John Fusco traveled the Silk Road by horseback and also crossed the Ming Sha Dunes of Western China on camel. In Venice, Italy he sought out and studied the Last Will and Testament of Marco Polo.14 While some Mongolian viewers and experts view it as "riddled with historical errors", many have praised the series. Orgil Narangerel, who played Genghis Khan in a BBC documentary, said it was more accurate than any previous foreign portrayal of Mongolian culture. "As a Mongol and an artist, Marco Polo makes me feel like our dreams are coming true," he told AFP. "I watched all 10 episodes in just one day."15 Music The series featured music by Mongolian bands Altan Urag and Batzorig Vaanchig of Asia's Got Talent, who cameoed as a singer. Daniele Luppi composed the main theme, whilst Peter Nashel and Eric V. Hachikian are composers of the original score. Episodes Season 1 Christmas special Season 2 Reception The first season of Marco Polo was met with negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a rating of 24%, based on 33 reviews, with a rating average of 4.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An all-around disappointment, Marco Polo is less entertaining than a round of the game that shares its name."16 On Metacritic, the show's first season has a score of 48 out of 100 based on 21 reviews by critics, indicating "mixed reviews".17 In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Jeff Jensen gave the first season a "B−" rating, calling the premise "stale", but added "Somewhere in the middle of episode 2, though, Marco Polo becomes surprisingly watchable. The filmmaking becomes bolder."18 Writing for People, Tom Gliatto praised the series, calling it "...a fun, body-flinging, old-fashioned epic".19 USA Today reviewer Robert Bianco gave the series 11⁄2 stars out of 4, saying, "Clearly what Netflix hopes you'll see a sic big-bucks, prestige entertainment along the lines of that HBO fantasy epic, but in truth, Marco is far closer to one of those cheesy international syndicated adventures."20 In 2018, the President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj presented John Fusco and the Marco Polo creative team with an award, honoring their positive portrayal and global presentation of Mongolian subject matter.21Fusco, himself, has described the series as historical fiction, based on the accounts of the Venetian traveler Marco Polo.22 Accolades See also * Europeans in Medieval China * Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty * History of the Song dynasty References # ^''' # '''^ # ^ a'' ''b # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # ^ ''a'' ''b'' # '''^ "Top 5 Filming Locations of Neflix's Marco Polo", by FG Dullin, Travelers Today, 6 Jan. 2017. 9 Dec. 2018 # ^''' "Netflix drama Marco Polo films at Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios", TheLocationGuide, 15 Dec. 2014. 9 Dec. 2018 # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ # ^''' # '''^ http://www.hmmawards.com/2017-music-in-visual-media-nominees/ # ^ http://www.goldentrailer.com/gta16-nominees/best-teasertrailer-for-a-tv-series-or-mini-series// External links * Marco Polo on Netflix * Marco Polo on IMDb